Measuring a pencil with a paperclip

There is a problem in the Saxon 7/6 math book that asks the student how the student would measure their pencil with a paperclip.  The book's purpose is for the student to find out how many paperclips it takes to find the length of the pencil.  The student I am homeschooling asked if he could tell me how he would measure the pencil using a paperclip instead of writing the answer.  He believed the answer 

is to long to write.  I told him he could tell me but then he might still have to write it.  He would take the paper clip and unfold it to its extended length and then weld another paper clip to the first one until it was as long as the pencil.  This method will work. It is just not the expected answer. I explained to him the answer the book wanted.